Can Entrapment Be Used as a Defense Against DUI Charges?

Posted By The Law Office of Shane Phelps, P.C. || 15-Nov-2017

Entrapment happens when police actions make a person commit a crime they
would not have been likely to commit otherwise. Entrapment is usually
defined as “the conception and planning of a crime by an officer,
and their procurement of its commission by one who would not have perpetrated
it except for the trickery, persuasion or fraud of the officer.”

Many people who have been accused of
DUI feel that their arrest falls under police entrapment. However, entrapment
can be difficult to establish in these types of cases. A common example
of entrapment in DUI cases is where an officer asks a person suspected
of DUI to move their car, despite the vehicle already being parked with
the ignition off. After moving the vehicle, the suspect is then arrested
for doing so.

One of the things that makes an entrapment defense difficult to use in
court, is that the consumption of alcohol carries a voluntary connotation
in the eyes of prosecutors and juries. However, involuntary intoxication
can be used as a possible defense against DUI charges. Involuntary intoxication
is used when a defendant is dosed with drugs or alcohol without their
consent or knowledge.

Courts tend to believe that a person accused of DUI is free to refuse when
asked to drive a vehicle under the influence. This makes entrapment defense
strategies hard to use in court. Additionally, some juries tend to not
want to see local law enforcement as corrupt, and will often side with
their authority in these kinds of cases.